The Value Of A Vote By Bessy Reyna Bessy Reyna is a free-lance writer whose column appears the third Friday of every month. To leave her a comment in English or Spanish, please call 860-241-3165; or e-mail her at< a href="mailto:bessy_reyna@hotmail.com">be ssy_reyna@hotmail.com.

The Comfort Zone: Where Casual Competence Rules By Laurence D. Cohen Laurence D. Cohen is a public policy consultant who served as special assistant to former Gov. John G. Rowland. His column appears every other Friday. He can be reached at cohencolumn@aol.com